turning back odometer?

I'm looking to buy another L, prob '03, and want to know how reliable the odo reading is. Is it possible for a seller to turn back the odometer?
Also, any help in negociating the payoff price with the insurance co. on a total loss? How to get the most, what they base it on, etc.

Some insurance companies (mine is AAA) ask for yearly mileage numbers. An odo can be reset if a repair shop has the correct computer software & interface, it's necessary if a vehicle gets into an accident and the dash & instrument cluster need to be replaced, or if the cluster needs to be replaced due to a failure of some kind. They are legally required to reset the odo to match the one removed........

u cant reset them the PCM saves the milage internally and its something not even the ford techs can change just like the codes it throws whenever u use a programmer on ur engine... ford technicians looks for that code which is un irrasable its stored in a ROM chip. the only way for them to lie about milage is to get a new PCM

I have changed my pcm from cux2 to cxn1 and the miles on my odometer read the same.
I have seen chips which make the odometer have little dash marks all the way across the read out and mileage doesn't add up - at least not on the odometer read.

Originally posted by Faster150 ...its something not even the ford techs can change just like the codes it throws whenever u use a programmer on ur engine... ford technicians looks for that code which is un irrasable its stored in a ROM chip.

The odometer is digital on our trucks, and is stored in the cluster. It has nothing to do with the PCM, and the PCM does not store mileage.

Repair shops cannot access the odometer.Ford dealers cannot access the odometer. Tuners cannot access the odometer. Nobody on the outside world can access the odometer. When a vehicle needs a cluster replaced, the dealer has to order it from the Ford cluster center. All the info on the vehicle must be submitted to the cluster center along with the vehicle's current mileage. The cluster center then sends a new cluster, with matching mileage to the dealer for install.

Now you could swap in a cluster from a lower mileage truck. But even that is not something the average owner can do. Just like the PCM, the cluster has to be programmed and configured to the vehicle. The cluster also stores the PATS key codes, so it has to be rekeyed as well.

So it's REALLY not likely that one of these trucks has bogus mileage, if it's being sold by a private seller.

Originally posted by LightningTuner
Repair shops cannot access the odometer.Ford dealers cannot access the odometer. Tuners cannot access the odometer. Nobody on the outside world can access the odometer.

I have personnally seen a chip, it was a superchips chip which made the dash cluster display dashed lines across the display. The mileage was not recorded. So someone has the ability to do thisif they desire. I'm not sure who but it is being done.

w/o the chip the car would rack up the miles, with the chip no miles are added.

Originally posted by LightningTuner . . . When a vehicle needs a cluster replaced, the dealer has to order it from the Ford cluster center. All the info on the vehicle must be submitted to the cluster center along with the vehicle's current mileage. The cluster center then sends a new cluster, with matching mileage to the dealer for install. . .

That's what they did when they replaced my cluster -- only they forgot the part about matching the existing mileage and reset mine to zero.